QUANTIFICATION OF MARIJUANA, ALCOHOL
AND COCAINE IN A FORENSIC
WHOLE BLOOD SAMPLE

$17.95 (US)

Format:

(32 Pages of Text + 16 Exhibits)

In California, a criminal charge of gross vehicular manslaughter
while intoxicated does not preclude a charge of second degree murder upon a
factual showing of implied malice, consistent with the holding of the
California Supreme Court in People v. Watson 30 Cal. 3d 290 (1981) [Cal. Penal
Code Section 191.5(e)]. Gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated in
violation of Cal. Penal Code Section 191.5(a) is punishable by imprisonment
for 4-10 years [Cal. Penal Code Section 191.5(c)], whereas a person guilty of
murder in the second degree is punished by imprisonment for a term of 15 years
to life [Cal. Penal Code Section 190(a)].

In this case the Defendant was charged with both vehicular
manslaughter while intoxicated (with gross negligence) and second degree
murder. The Prosecution alleged that the Defendant was intoxicated at the
time of the driving based on presumptive testing that they performed on a
blood sample drawn from Defendant within 3 hours of the driving. Defense
counsel obtained a court order to split Defendant's blood sample to enable
reanalysis by Mehler & Associates Inc of Defendant's blood for alcohol,
marijuana and cocaine which were alleged by the Prosecution to be present in
Defendant's blood at the time of the driving.

This Report describes the results obtained by our analysis of
Defendant's blood for alcohol (gas chromatography), marijuana (gas
chromatography/mass spectrometry) and cocaine (gas chromatography/mass
spectrometry. The results contained herein dispel artifactual findings that
are typical of presumptive testing conducted by the Prosecution, and are
useful in rebutting the Prosecutor's allegation that Defendant was intoxicated
at the time of the driving.